The Ring

For Dave

It is terribly difficult –
this writing to you directly,
without artifice,
often without elegance,
my sincerest expression

inconceivably you initiated contact
you thought I was speaking to you
through the persona in the poem
the last lines an invitation

saudade transmuting to volition
through the transformative power of art
nothing proved to be impossible

I wrote my way
into your inner sanctum
glyphs and inscriptions
lined the halls as
I danced to the compelling
beat of semiotic erotica

finding my voice
I revealed an intense need
you began speaking
to my secret self
I started falling
through the interstices

cryptically we whispered
our intricate natures
becoming co-conspirators

opening to true intimacy
the joys of specificity
of being at home in the world
belonging with you

evanescent desire evaporated
in the intensity of your sun
speciousness died
at the altar of your truth

I promise to forsake all others
I am not immersed in the confusion
of conflation, no inner conflict haunts

I know you are irreplaceable
our intimacy withstands,
infinitely renewing, come what may,
through the mantra of these vows
our love made manifest

This poem is posted for Meeting the Bar: Volition & Velleity. I decided to take my own challenge and rewrite a poem that expressed velleity (Saudade) and write one that illustrates volition. Dave and I will be married in the fall. My joy is unending.